aw man. im done :'( i have loved writing this story but i must admit that i was getting quite bored with it.
ill write my next story real soon but if i dont update in the next week its because i have a lot going on - prom (: and paris next week.
anyway thank you so much to all my faithful reviewers: this chapter is dedicated to all of you.
x

oh and i dont think im going to write The President's Sons as my next story. im swaying towards a darker fanfic, itll be very different but i just want to see if i can write it :/ hopefully i can and youll all enjoy it. if you want to know anything about it then just pm me (:

disclaimer: i dont own these characters. meg cabot does. thank you -Black-DeSilva-Hale for reminding me about the disclaimer (:

'Susie!' I cringed inwardly at the use of my nickname, but I forgot it as soon as I saw my mom's beaming face.

'Mom!' I hugged her hard and then stepped back to introduce her to Jesse. 'This is my boyfriend, Jesse De Silva.' My mom was ecstatic to meet him; she'd heard so much about him.

My mom looked pretty much speechless as Jesse smiled at her and kissed her hand. 'Charmed, I'm sure.' I stifled a laugh behind my hand; Jesse could render pretty much anyone speechless regardless of their age.

Mom finally replied to him, 'It's lovely to meet you, Jesse.'

I left them talking, and turned to greet my brothers and Andy. David hugged me shyly, 'Hey David.

He timidly greeted me back. I then beamed at Brad and Jake – I think they were surprised. After Andy and my mom had married, I hadn't really got along with them. But they were my brothers.

I punched Jake in the arm, 'Hey Jake. How's it going?'

He nodded at me. 'Hey Suze.' He smirked at me. 'Not joined any gangs lately?'

'Oh ha ha.' I looked at Brad. 'What do you think?' I asked, referring to Jesse. Brad had always had something bad to say about my boyfriends back when I lived at home.

'He's okay.' This was basically the Brad Ackerman seal of approval.

I showed Jesse to the guest room and asked him what he thought of my family.

'They're lovely, Querida.' I kissed him thankyou. 'I'm so excited for Christmas tomorrow.'

Jesse smiled at me. 'I think your whole family is. I've never seen so many Christmas decorations in one place, not even at a store that sells Christmas decorations.'

'Oh ha ha.' I hit him on the arm, playfully. 'You don't seem too excited.'

Jesse shrugged. 'Yeah? Well at home, it was usually just me and the housekeepers at Christmas, my parents were always away.'

'Aw Jesse.' I hugged him; I never wanted him to be hurt. Not ever.

Jesse hugged me back and then chuckled. 'This is all wrong. I should be protecting you, not the other way around.' That was another thing about my lovely boyfriend, he was such a gentleman. He would open doors for me, pull out my chair and make sure that he was on the sidewalk, not me. He was so perfect and I loved him.

It was 6am. I was always the first up on Christmas day but I knew everyone else would soon be up.

I crept into Jesse's room to wake him up. 'Jesse?' I called out his name, but to no avail. I walked over to him and shook him; I felt kind of guilty waking him up so early but it was Christmas! And I wanted to give Jesse a Christmas to remember.

Jesse still wouldn't wake up so I just watched him for a while. He must have sensed that I was there or something because he stirred and opened his eyes. 'Wow, creepy much?'

'Oh thanks, Jesse.' I scoffed at him. 'You were the one who wouldn't wake up. I was just contemplating whether to chuck water over you or not.'

'Thanks Querida.' He then leant forward and kissed the breath out of me. Does morning breath not apply to this guy? 'Merry Christmas.'

'Merry Christmas. I love you.'

'I love you too.' He walked over to his jacket and pulled out something. He then came over to me and placed it in my hands. 'This is for you; I didn't really want to give it with everyone there.'

I looked at the wrapped up object in my hand. It looked a lot like a jewellery box; to be more specific, it looked a lot like a ring box. I looked up at Jesse. He smiled at me, 'Open it.'

So I did. And it was a ring. It was white gold with one emerald in the middle and diamonds on either side. It was beautiful. 'Jesse!' I gasped. 'This is beautiful but...' I loved it and him, but if this was a marriage ring then what would I say?

Jesse must have guessed my hesitance because he smiled sweetly. 'Susannah, it's just a promise ring.' He looked nervous now. 'You know, to show that I'm yours and you're mine. Not that we're property or anything!' He hurriedly babbled on.

I took his face in my hands. 'Jesse. I love this and I love you.' I held the ring out to him. 'Put it on me?'

He grinned at me and placed it onto my ring finger where it would stay forever.